Habits Bringing Us Closer to God:

In these last few years, there has been more reflection on habits and their importance in our daily lives.  Scientists have done research on how habits become easier and easier in our lives the more we practice them.  Even something you didn’t originally like doing, can become easier after a long time of practice.  Routines take time.  There has often been said that it can take from 21 days to 30 days to start to establish a habit, but it can really start to be more about two months before these habits can become second nature.  However, these habits after time can really be so done that they are in the part of our brain that doesn’t even think twice about doing them.  Our physical bodies just start getting ready to do the habit.  

A few months ago I read the book, “The Screwtape Letters,” by C.S Lewis.  It is a bit more of a complicated book than I was originally expecting.  It is a good challenge and it is getting me to think in different ways about the Christian walk than I ever have before.   One statement that really stood out to me from this book is, “ active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened.”  This quote really shows that it is only through making a habit or an action a priority, it becomes strengthened and easier to do, while when we fail to practice it regularly, it falls to very weak actions.  

Reflecting on this, it is important I don’t fall too far into legalism.  Legalism is focused more on the actions of Christianity, without the love and without the real desire of knowing Christ.  It is caring more about the Christian acts and the Christian religion as a religious sense, besides caring as much about the relationship with Christ.  I do believe habits can become monotonous and  we can lose the reason why we are doing it.  But on the positive side, it gives us the stability in our daily walk and our daily lives that can be for our overall benefit.  When something becomes so much a part of one’s life, then it becomes almost second nature.  It won’t be difficult to make the time to do a particular habit because it has become so much a part of your routine.  

Hebrews 5: 14 says the following, “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”  It takes practice to know good from evil.  This is through spending time in prayer and through spending time with God in his Word.  It is through taking time.  While sometimes we may not want to wake up early or be away from our phones or other distractions for an amount of time, it is the overall thing that can help us grow closer to God. 

I have really started recently to focus on healthy habits I try really hard to do daily in order to grow closer to Christ.  Some of these habits are doing a daily devotional, practicing memory verses, exercise, making my bed, reading, writing, and completing a daily joy or gratitude journal.  Some of these habits are more focused on my daily life such as exercise, but many of them have to do with my overall walk with God.   Some of them, such as writing, are because I really love to write and even when there are days when the words are not flowing, I try to get in the practice to get better and better. My hope being my words can be a glory to God in some way.  

My challenge for you this week is to think of some habits that you want to start to include in your own life.  These could be habits that bring a person closer to God by even spending more time reading the Bible or spending time in prayer.  This could be a habit that brings you out into your community, or this could be a habit that helps you live a healthier lifestyle.  I personally want to be better at eating more fruits as well as overall healthier food.  Remember that starting a habit takes time.  It is not going to be something that happens in a week, but with some time and effort, there can be a new habit for you to prosper in your life.